Friends mourn victim of fatal stabbing at east-side bar

A late-night bar fight that ended in Ottawa’s 17th homicide of the year was a tragedy “waiting to happen”, says a former bartender at Piper’s Bar & Grill, where a young man was stabbed to death early Sunday.

Police are looking for witnesses after a man was seen stumbling away from the front entrance bar just after 2 a.m., bleeding from his neck. He collapsed on a concrete median on Coventry Road, steps from the St. Laurent Shopping Centre. He was pronounced dead in hospital.

Police identified the victim as Solomon Odekunle, 21, a University of Ottawa international student from Nigeria.

Police have arrested 27-year-old Joe-Bryan Ndikuriyo.

Police believe Odekunle was stabbed after the two men began fighting over a woman.

Piper’s operated for years at the busy intersection as 1950s-themed family restaurant Rockin’ Johnny’s Diner. It changed under new ownership to Piper’s, a pizzeria and diner serving all-day breakfast but attracting an “aggressive” late-night drinking crowd, according to former staff and neighbouring business owners.

“I haven’t seen anything that dangerous since I lived in Toronto,” said the former bartender, who did not want to have his name published. “I was warned about the place before I started, just to keep an eye out. I can tell you there’s a lot of over-consumption, and not all the rules are followed when serving alcohol.

“During the day, it’s a lot of families out for breakfast and brunch, but the evening crowd gets pretty loud and aggressive. Add excessive alcohol to that and it’s a powder keg waiting to happen.”

The former bartender said he lodged an official complaint with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario a week ago, alleging compliance violations at Piper’s such as serving alcohol after-hours “and even beer going out the back door.

“I’ve cut patrons off and I was told by my boss to keep serving them. I’ve had patrons order buckets of beer — 20 beers in a two-hour window …

“When I heard about the (homicide) I was not surprised at all.”

The former staffer said the bar had no bouncer or security staff, and has capacity for about 200 patrons. He said police were in to deal with several fights inside the bar in the weeks he was working there.

A neighbouring business owner, who also did not want his name published, said the bar has attracted trouble in recent months since converting to a late-night establishment.

“We’ve had crowds of drunk people in the parking lot, starting fights. Some of our vehicles were broken in to. We’ve had some of our vehicles smeared with excrement.”

Ottawa police investigated the 17th homicide of the year at St. Laurent Boulevard and Coventry Road,Nov. 6, 2016.Ashley Fraser /
Postmedia

On Sunday, business owners were met with crime scene tape surrounding the intersection of St. Laurent Boulevard and Coventry Road, with police directing traffic and investigators laying crime scene markers outside the front entrance of the bar.

A trail of blood, still visible on the pavement, was marked with small orange cones along the path the victim is believed to have walked after he was stabbed, leading from the bar’s front door to a concrete median where he was found.

Zak Stewart, day manager at Perkins’ Family Restaurant, a 24-hour diner across the street from the crime scene, said witnesses reported seeing “a man (coming) outside the restaurant holding his neck, and when he got halfway across the street he just fell down” on Coventry Road around 2:15 a.m.

Multiple callers alerted police.

On Sunday, investigators placed a second set of crime scene markers along another path leading east from the bar’s front entrance through the back parking lot — the same area where the neighbouring business owner noted past incidents of trouble — to Cyrville Road, where several crime scene investigators were seen searching the area.

Several neighbouring businesses, including Perkins’ diner, are equipped with surveillance cameras, and a traffic camera is mounted at the busy intersection, but it was not known whether police retrieved any surveillance images that might aid the investigation.

Ottawa Police were investigating the 17th homicide at the corner of Ogilvie where it changes to Coventry and St. Laurent blvd Sunday November 6, 2016. The Forensic Identification Section marked out a path from Piper’s Bar and Grill to the site of blood on the sidewalk along Coventry Road.Ashley Fraser /
Postmedia

The former Piper’s bartender believes the incident might have been captured on in-house surveillance. He said the bar has two cameras — one stationary, the other roving to survey the bar and dining area.

Piper’s remained closed until 4 p.m. Sunday.

Odekunle slaying marks the city’s 17th homicide of the year, and it was the third stabbing of the weekend.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 613-236-1222, ext. 5493.

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Market to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.